The Princess and the Dragon
by xoxmarshaxox
Summary: Lucy's life becomes in danger and Natsu comes in to save the day. Lucy and Natsu's feelings for each other unravel and develop until something terribly goes wrong. Nalu fanfiction filled with lemons on the way. Other possible pairings in future.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello guys. This is going to be a Nalu story with possible other pairings like Gruvia, Jellal x Erza, Levy and Gajeel and others. For now, it's simply Natsu and Lucy. LEMONS WILL BE INCLUDED. WARNING. M-Rated for a reason here people. But this chapter is safe for now! :) Enjoy!**

* * *

"Call me that again, ice cube," Natsu gritted through his teeth.

"What's wrong microwave oven, didn't hear me the first time?" Gray clashed foreheads with the pink haired dragon slayer.

"Bring it!"

"Why are those two fighting again?" Lucy asked Happy.

"I lost track already..." the blue cat mumbled in response.

"Stop getting distracted Lucy!" Levy squealed from across the table. "Who was your date with last night?" she demanded, no... she was begging to find out who the mystery man truly was.

"Eh, why do you care so much?" Lucy leaned in with a sheepish smile.

"Just tell us!" Levy banged the table, desperately needing to know what Lucy was up to. Lucy leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms.

"No way," she stated. "I can't tell anyone who he is."

"Is it because we know him?" Wendy wondered. Instantly, Lucy froze as a flash of panic covered her face.

"It's someone we know!" Mirajane and Cana screamed in perfect sync.

"Shut up!" Lucy hissed back.

"Is it a mage?" Lisanna asked. Lucy was like an open book. A flash of red covered her cheeks.

"Oh oh oh this is fun," Levy clapped her hands and leaned closer to her best friend. "Is he from this guild?"

Lucy pursed her lips shut, forcing herself not to react in any way.

"That's a no," Erza stated after studying her face.

"Eh? How do you know?" Lucy demanded to know.

"I've known you for a long time Lucy," Erza simple shrugged. "Think you can hide these things from me?" she grinned as a dark aura surrounded her.

 _Scary..._ both Charle and Wendy thought at the same time.

"I can play this too!" drunk Cana bellowed. "Did we see him at the Grand Magic games?" she asked, approaching Lucy closer.

Panic took over Lucy momentarily. She stood up and ran for the door.

"I can't do this no more!" she screamed as she ran away from her friends.

"Huh? Where did Lucy go?" Natsu suddenly became distracted during Gray's fist fight with him. The moment he turned around, the ice mage took advantage of him.

"Gotcha!" Gray shouted as he threw a punch into the dragon slayer's face.

"What the hell was that for?" Natsu screamed.

"How dense are you?" Gray cocked his head to the side. "We were just fighting," he stated in a simple-minded tone. Natsu scuffed and brushed himself off the ground. Gray watched as he ignored him completely and approached the booth with all the ladies.

"Where did Lucy go?" he asked.

"She went home I think," Lisanna explained.

"Something about being too embarrassed to share details of last nights date," Cana sniggered.

"Date?" Natsu raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Lucy had a mystery date with a mage last night," Happy continued.

"And apparently we all know him from the Grand Magic Games," Mirajane added. Natsu stared at the door straight ahead, the door from where the celestial mage had run out from.

* * *

Lucy had arrived at the guild early that morning. She didn't want to confront any of the girls and have them figure out who her date was. She sighed in relief when she didn't notice many female bodies in the tavern. She did however spot a pink haired boy at the bar eating breakfast with his beloved flying cat.

"Morning Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed, walking up to them.

"Lucy!" Happy waved in response.

"Hey Luce!" Natsu replied, munching down a chicken leg.

"That's breakfast?" Lucy raised her eyebrow at her partner.

"Aye sir!" Happy replied for Natsu, even though he was eating fish and not the big plate of chicken legs.

"What are you doing here so early?" Natsu asked Lucy.

"Oh, just couldn't sleep," Lucy said, shyly scraping the floor with her toe.

"Couldn't sleep huh?" Happy sniggered.

"Shut up!" Lucy screamed at the cat. "Anyways, shouldn't we do a job today? We haven't done one in a while," Lucy began talking calmly to Natsu.

"Sure, sounds like a plan!" Natsu happily agreed. He left his meal and followed the blonde girl to the bulletin board filled with new jobs. Happy flew over and looked at the ones on top that were difficult to reach.

"Oh this looks fun!" Natsu grabbed a random sheet.

 _Kill giant slug infested within our home! 15,000 Jewels_

"Gross," Lucy stuck her tongue out. "Not going to deal with something gooey when you have the potential to explode it... and get it all over me," Lucy pointed out.

"Here's one with a good reward," Happy flew down and handed a sheet to Natsu and Lucy.

"The jewel reward is high!" Lucy commented.

"It's not too far so we can totally walk!" Natsu added in an enthusiastic tone. He was so relived he didn't need to travel by transport.

"Aye sir!"

The travel wasn't far from the guild, but the walk seemed long to Lucy. It was a hot day in Fiore and she was beginning to break a sweat.

"Remind me the reward amount every now and then, Happy," Lucy instructed. "That way I'll remember the reason why I'm doing this."

Natsu hung back a little, watching as she Lucy walked in front of him the whole time. Natsu had a horrible pain in chest for a few months now. Every since the dragons walked through the gate... that moment when future Lucy died... his heart was torn to pieces. At first, all he felt was anger, and the anger drove him to beat future Rogue. However, after the war was over and they had returned back home, a feeling from that night had never left him. A dark, horrible feeling that manifested it's way to his core, his heart and his mind. Every time he looked at Lucy he was happy to see her, but sometimes he would get the flashback. A flashback of future Lucy's horrible death. That feeling would take over him and he'd have to fight the urge to punch someone. He wanted the feeling to go away but it never did. He would hide away in the corner of the guild, trying to think of other things for it to pass, or pick a fight with Gray or Gajeel.

"Natsu! Why are you so far behind?" Lucy yelled from quiet a large distance.

"Aye Natsu, you're walking so slowly," Happy agreed. "No fun teasing Lucy here if you're not here to laugh at it," he added.

"Ah, coming!" Natsu placed a fake smile on his face and picked up his pace to catch up with his partner.

"Jeez Natsu, it's not like you to walk so slowly," Lucy pointed out.

"Aye," Happy agreed. "Are you ill perhaps?"

"Nah, just got distracted," Natsu explained nonchalantly.

"Typical," Lucy hissed under her voice.

"While you were behind, I was teasing Lucy about her date last night," Happy began explaining.

"Oh, the date?" Natsu had forgotten all about that, or tried to play it off like he did.

"I was saying how Lucy wasn't going to get a second date because she screwed it up so bad," Happy shrugged.

"Shut it, hairball," Lucy yelled at the flying cat.

"Lucy's so mean, Natsu," Happy flew over beside his friend, streams of tears coming from his eyes.

"Double standards!" Lucy exclaimed in awe.

The walk wasn't as long as Lucy had expected. Finally, they had arrived at the entrance of the farm. The request was to get rid of a beast that was stealing cows at night from the near by forest.

"Look Happy," Natsu pointed out to the cottage.

"Aye, looks like we're here," he agreed. An elderly man approached the trio, using a walking stick as support.

"You must be the Fairy Tail wizards," he spoke as soon as they came.

"That's us," Natsu grinned.

"My name is Lucy, and this is Natsu and Happy."

"Greetings sir!" the flying cat cheered.

"Good to see you here. My name is Mr. Queso, and I own Queso farm," he stated, showing his acres of land and animals.

"Wow, you own Queso cheese?" Natsu wondered.

"That's right," he nodded.

"I love that cheese," Lucy squealed happily in surprise. Natsu laughed at her response.

"But my cheese is at risk. There's a beast of a monster living in the woods that has been killing and eating my cows at night," he explained in a painful tone. "My animals, they mean everything to me," he began to sob a little. "I need you to rid of him at once."

"Alright, I'm all fired up!" Natsu happily agreed to the challenge.

Lucy and Natsu had walked into the forest for the night. Mr. Queso had given camp gear to them and some cheese and bread for the night, waiting for the beast to arrive. They didn't travel too deeply into the forest so that they could run to the farm if the beast had sneaked past them. The sun was only beginning to set as Lucy found a nice area to sit down in the forest.

Natsu and Happy were in charge of the camp fire whilst Lucy sat and prepared their snacks.

"This cheese is so good," Lucy murmured as she munched on it. She saw that Happy and Natsu were huffing it down, swallowing them whole.

"Don't eat all of it!" Lucy screamed at the boys.

It wasn't long till the darkness began to take over. Natsu had snored himself into deep slumber, muttering to Lucy to keep an eye out for the monster. Lucy was poking the fire with a stick, keeping herself entertained.

"Lucy..." Natsu mumbled.

Alert, Lucy looked up over the flames and watched Natsu. He was still fast asleep, mumbling unintelligible words. Lucy smiled to herself, watching as her pink-haired friend shifted and moved in his sleep.

"Oh Natsu," she sighed, leaning back. Lucy stared in the flames of the crackling fire, her mind loosing in thought. The flames reminded her of Natsu's fire magic, and all the times Natsu had used his magic to save her. She chewed the inside of her cheek, feeling uncomfortable with herself. Why did she always end up being the damsel in distress? Lucy pondered on the idea of getting even stronger, but the thought escaped her mind pretty quickly. She heard a twig snap in the distance and she froze. She knew she had best wake up Natsu but was unable to even allow her breath escape her lungs. She heard ruffled sounds from near by bushes, feeling like something was approaching her quickly.

In a single moment, something giant jumped from a near by area and launched itself towards Lucy. Lucy saw this coming. She saw the horrible dark beast about to murderously end her life. It was like everything was happening in slow motion.

 _Natsu._

In the second half of that moment, Lucy was swept off her feet and crashed into the ground. It wasn't as rough as she expected because she landed on something soft... Natsu himself. He was alert and wide awake. His eyes were focused on the beast before them. He was like a giant wolf, with long saber tooth-like teeth. He walked around the camp fire, watching Natsu.

"Natsu," Lucy managed to say, still sitting on the ground. Natsu was standing in front of her, in a crouching position, ready to fight.

"Lucy, go back," Natsu said in a deep voice, his eyes still focused on the beast. Lucy did as she were told and took a few steps back. The beast growled and hissed at Natsu.

"Alright," Natsu put his fists together, "bring it on!"

The beast was terrifying, it's red eyes gleaming with evil. The fight began and all Lucy did was watch. The beast snarled, attacked and clawed his way towards Natsu, but he dodged all the attacks with his acrobatic moves, kicking and punching with his flames every chance he got. Happy flew by Lucy's side, apparently only waking up now.

"I've got to do something," Lucy whimpered. It finally hit her what she could actually do.

She ran closer towards the battle and pulled out one of her keys.

"Open, Gate of the Lion, Leo!" she yelled, opening a magical portal.

"Long time no see, Lucy," Leo appeared, dressed in his sleek black suit. "Finally agreed to marry me?" he leaned in with a perverted look in his eyes.

"READ THE SITUATION HERE!" Lucy gave out to her celestial spirit. "Help Natsu," she explained, pointing out to Natsu's fight with a beast.

"Alright," Leo pulled his sleeve up, prepared to fight.

"Natsu, step back!" Lucy yelled out. Natsu jumped and stood beside Leo.

"Loke!"

"Let's go, Natsu!" Loke ordered. Both of them nodded their heads.

"Roar of the fire dragon!"

"Regulus Impact!"

A brilliant mixture of fire and light targeted the beast directly, hitting him straight in the face and sending far off into the forest.

"Alright!" Lucy punched the air excitedly.

"Well done Natsu," Happy cheered for his best friend.

"We did good," Leo high fived Natsu.

"Yeah, we should do it again sometime," Natsu grinned before Loke disappeared once more.

"Natsu, are you alright?" Lucy ran up to him.

"Yeah, Loke came in handy," he said with a big grin on his face. Suddenly, Natsu face changed grave and pained when he spotted something on Lucy's arm. There were three long claw marks, causing blood to trickle down.

"Lucy, you're hurt," Natsu pointed out.

"Huh?" confused, Lucy looked down at her arm. Sure enough she was bleeding. "I didn't even notice..." she mumbled. "It's fine, really. I don't feel anything," she said with a smile, trying to make it seem like it was okay. Natsu didn't like this one bit.

"We should get back soon," Natsu said suddenly, grabbing Lucy's arm.

"But the reward!" Lucy gasped.

"We'll get it later! We need to get to Fairy Tail quickly," Natsu ordered.

"Natsu, you're making a bid deal-"

Lucy's body plummeted to the ground. She collapsed, fainting, unable to move and remain conscious.

"LUCY!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello beloved Fairy Tail fans! I'm so happy to see many followers so I decided to update within the day. I don't know if you'll like this chapter much, but I promise you this isn't set out to be triangle love story. It's just a catalyst I require for a NaLu moment to work. You might not understand yet but hopefully soon. I love seeing reviews, thanks again everyone!**

 **Enjoy~**

* * *

Lucy lay in the infirmary bed like a motionless body, barely breathing. Only Levy, Master, Natsu, Wendy and Porlyusica were in the room with her. Gray and Gajeel were outside with the others, standing right at the door, their ears wide open.

"Can you hear anything?" Lisanna asked.

"Shhh!" Gray hissed back.

"I bet the old man put some magic around it," Gajeel complained. If his dragon ears couldn't pick up the conversation that was being said, then no one's could. Inside the room however, Natsu was gripping onto Lucy's hand, feeling her pulse, her breathing, her heart.

"She's dying," Natsu repeated Porlyusica's statement. She nodded slowly, unable to say those words again.

"I've researched into the beast that you fought Natsu," Levy spoke up. Her face was still red and moist from the tears. "It's a rare cat called a Leo Mortum... It's venom is fatal," she whimpered.

"Just tell me, is there a cure?" Natsu gritted through his teeth.

"There is," Wendy nodded her head. "Laxus said that he did a job request like this. He managed to save a victim that had been attacked, but it's not guaranteed to work," she explained. She too had red swollen eyes. The moment she saw Natsu storm through the guild doors, he screamed for Wendy, begging for her help. He had carried Lucy all the way back in his arms.

"What are we waiting for?" Natsu growled. "Get Laxus here to tell us!" he shouted at Wendy.

"Cool down Natsu. There's a reason we're telling you this," Makarov ordered the fierce dragon slayer. "A Leo Mortum's venom is simple. It's a deathly poison."

"A way to fight a poison, is with poison," Levy continued the conversion for the master. "Dragon's have a deathly venomous bite if they allow their two fangs to pierce a skin and let the poison seep through, did you know that?" she asked.

"Well, I guess," Natsu scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "I've never used them before though..."

"A dragon doesn't use his fangs in battle because they are so thin and fragile... their retractable," Wendy was the one who spoke. "They kinda look like vampire teeth."

"Laxus said that every dragon's venom has a special trait, alongside the deathly part," Levy continued. "Laxus's lightning trait is that he paralyzes his victim. He believes a fire dragon's will kill faster because of the intensified heat."

"Because Lucy has little time, Laxus said it's best if you do it," Makarov stated.

"Do what?" Natsu still remained confused.

"You have to bite Lucy and poison her, so the two venoms fight each other and neutralize," Porlyusica.

"That doesn't sound right..." Natsu frowned. "It sounds like it will just kill her faster."

"That... that's also another possible outcome," Levy sobbed a little. The tears again began to form. "We have no other choice," she cried.

No magic could stop Gajeel from feeling what Levy felt. He placed a hand on the door, his heart throbbing in pain.

"Damn it," he muttered under his breath. He felt like his whole insides were falling out, sinking deeper into his stomach.

"Okay."

Natsu looked down at Lucy. She looked as if she were dead already. Her face was pale and her skin was ice-cold. He couldn't describe the emotion he felt. It was beyond the feeling he had when future Lucy died. This process was much slower, and more difficult to realize and understand.

Makarov led Levy and Wendy out the door, where all the guild members were standing, waiting patiently for everyone to return. Before Porlyusica left, she walked towards Natsu and leaned down to where he was seated. Though she hated humans, she couldn't hide the pain and worry covering her face.

"Do it as close to the heart as possible," she told him. "That way, the venom will transport faster around her blood."

Natsu was left alone in the room with his dying partner.

"Lucy... I don't know if this will save you," he murmured softly. "I'm only doing this to save you... I hope you know that."

Natsu pulled down the blanket, and leaned over Lucy's lifeless body. He pulled down the collar of her shirt. He knew of the fangs Wendy was talking about... they, dragon slayers, all had them. Never needed any use of them though.

Until now.

Natsu sunk his thin, sharp fans into Lucy's body, just below her collarbone and above her heart. There was a sharp piercing sound as the flesh tore open and allowed access into her bloodstream. Lucy's eyes twitched from the pain, but other than that, she remained motionless. Natsu closed his eyes as he let his poison flow into her body. He tasted her blood which was tainted with poison already.

A single tear left Natsu's eye.

 _Lucy, you can't die. There's so many things we still haven't done together. So many things we had planned. So many promises still to uphold. So many things still left unsaid... so please... don't die!_

When Porlyusica shut the door behind her, she let out a sigh of relief.

"So, what's going on?" Erza asked impatiently.

"Is Lucy going to be okay?" Happy cried.

"Why is Natsu still in there?" Gray asked.

"Is the cheer leader going to die?" Gajeel asked. At Gajeel's question, the whole group went silent. Makarov, Wendy nor Levy could answer his question. Levy sobbed, wiping a tear from her face.

"Natsu... you bring Lucy back to us!"

* * *

"Happy! Stop jumping on the bed!" Lucy shouted at the blue cat.

"I can't stop Lucy!" he said, "I'm just too Happy!" he sang as he continued to jump around the pillow, shaking Lucy's head vigorously.

It had been the following day when Lucy finally woke up. The night was long as all the mages hung around the room, waiting for Lucy to wake up. In the morning, when she finally drew a deep breath and opened her eyes... everyone finally felt relived and a flush of fatigue had covered their pained faces. No one could deny their happiness that Lucy had survived, but many had left to finally get some sleep. Nothing like sleeping on a bed of good news.

"Lucy!" Levy threw her arms around her friend.

"Wait a second!" Lucy coughed as her bones began to crush. Of course, that was nothing until Erza joined in the group hug. Lucy felt like all her bones jumbled together and slushed their way back into place.

"I'm so happy you're alive Lucy!" Wendy clapped her hands together. Charle crossed her arms.

"I suppose it is good news you're alright," she muttered. Natsu was sitting by Lucy's beside, watching everyone's delighted reactions. Gajeel leaned into his face.

"Salamander, you haven't told her about what you did, have you?" he asked him.

"Huh?" Natsu wondered absent mindlessly. "It hasn't come up in conversation yet," Natsu shrugged it off.

"And I'm guessing you're not going to tell her about the side-affect of it?" Gajeel had a playful grin on his face.

"Side-effect?" Natsu raised his eyebrow, looking up at the dragon slayer.

"You know, the _thing._ "

"What _thing_?" Natsu asked, completely dumbfounded.

"You really are an idiot, aren't you?" Gajeel leaned back, bewildered at Natsu's simple mindedness.

"Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed suddenly, demanding the pink-haired boy's attention.

"Uh, Lucy?"

"Did we end up getting the reward for the job?" Lucy asked with a wide grin on her face, her eyes closed.

"Job?" Natsu thought back. "Oh yeah, no we haven't yet."

"EEHHHH!?" Lucy screeched. "I almost died and I don't even get _paid_ for almost dying?!"

* * *

Lucy was sitting at the park bench, kicking the air with her feet. She was waiting for her date to arrive, but she did end up showing up early. The wind was so soft and gentle whilst the sun was baking any surface its' rays touched. Little did the celestial mage know that from a nearby bush, she was being spied upon.

"Erza, stop hogging the binoculars!" Gray hissed.

"Shhh!"

"Erza, at least tell me what you see," Gray complained.

"Why are you so eager to know?" Charle asked. "You were dragged here against your will."

"Well since I _was_ dragged here against my will I might as well do something," Gray defended himself.

"This doesn't feel right..." Wendy whimpered from the background.

"Listen," Erza was suddenly alert and looked behind her.

"Someone's coming!" Gray also noted the approaching footsteps.

Out of a sudden, two exceeds popped out from the bush.

"Ehhh!" They squealed at the sight of terrifying Titania.

"What's wrong?" a black haired mage popped his head out alongside Lector and Frosch. "GAAAH!" he jumped back once seeing Erza and Gray.

"E-Erza! Gray!" he gasped. "What are you two doing here?"

"Rogue!" Gray gasped.

"We could ask you the same thing!" Erza huffed under her voice.

"True," Rogue looked embarrassingly down to the ground. "We're following Sting today..."

"We're also following our friend," Wendy admitted to him.

"Oh really?" Rogue cocked his head to the side. "Who are you following?"

"Lucy," Charle replied.

"Why are you following Sting?" Gray asked.

"Sting has been seeing a girl and won't tell us who she is!" Lector stated in a pissed off manner. "We're sick of him hiding secrets from us so we followed him to see his date."

"That's why we're following Lucy too," Gray said. "She's been seeing this guy and won't tell us who it is," he shrugged.

"What a coincidence we're here together!" Rogue stated.

"Look!" Wendy squealed. They all turned around to find Lucy jumping from her bench and running up to her date. A tall blonde haired guy waved at her as she approached. Once she reached him she blushed a violent red colour in the cheeks. He held out his hand and she took it, allowing him to lead them elsewhere.

The whole group from the bushes gawked in awe and shock as the couple walked away. A gusty wind flew passed them and none of them moved.

"Seriously you people," Charle crossed her arms. "To think you didn't realize it sooner," she rolled her eyes at the mages.

Lucy was excited to see Sting again. She remembered the time he asked her out for the first date.

" _Oh Lucy, what are you doing here?" Sting asked as he saw her in town._

" _Sting!" she was surprised to see the dragon slayer. "S-shopping," she stuttered._

" _Ugh, haven't seen you since the games. Are you feeling better?" he asked._

" _Better?" Lucy wondered._

" _What Minerva did to you... it wasn't cool," he explained shyly to her._

" _Oh that," Lucy chuckled nervously._

" _You held up pretty well," he stated._

" _Thanks," Lucy smiled._

" _Lucy..." Sting was about to run away but tried saying it anyway. "This might be strange but, I was actually thinking about you a lot lately. Am... Would you like to go on a date with me?_

"Lucy?" Sting asked.

"Huh?"

"Are you wearing a new perfume I asked," he said, twitching his nose.

"Ugh, not that I can think of," Lucy chuckled nervously. "You don't like it?" she asked. Sting stopped walking and turned around to look at her. He looked her up and down and began sniffing her up close.

"No it's not your body odour... it's your blood," he simply stated, sniffing down her neck and her collarbone.

"Hold on a second..." Lucy bend her back away from him. Suddenly Sting took hold of the collar and bend it down to see a horrible wound, just above her chest. Red crackling shapes were forming from two puncture wounds.

"Natsu did this to you?!" Sting gasped.

"How did you know?" Lucy was bewildered.

"I can smell him off you," Sting seemed to be getting angry.

"Eh?!" Lucy squealed.

"And you dare come on a date with another dragon slayer after that!" Sting yelled.

"H-hold on a second!" Lucy stuttered. "What do you mean?"

"How long have you and Natsu been dating? Finally got nasty and dirty with him," Sting looked like he had been stabbed.

"You're crazy!" Lucy pulled away. "Natsu and I didn't do anything together! Where did you get that idea from?!"

"He bit you Lucy! I can see the mark! I smell him off you!" he said, gritting his teeth.

"Yes Natsu did bite me..." Lucy nodded. She slowly began explaining to the dragon slayer about the fight with the Leo Mortum and how Natsu saved her with this bite. Sting's face slowly began to relax and he was no longer angry by the end of the story, hearing that Lucy had almost died and Natsu saved her life.

"I guess that makes sense," Sting shrugged. Lucy sighed in relief.

"Anyway, why did you think Natsu and I were dating? And why do I smell like Natsu?" Lucy began sniffing her shirt.

"Oh, did the Salamander not spill the beans?" Sting sniggered. "When dragons mate they become possessive over their partner. So during the... Yeah know, they bite and poison each other so that they smell like each other. That way other dragons instantly know they have been mated with and belong with another dragon," Sting explained.

"EEHHHHHH?!" Lucy jumped back. "So I'm Natsu's... Natsu's..."

"No," Sting laughed closing his eyes, completely convinced now that his date didn't sleep around with others. "That smell will wear off in a few months time. They need to bite each other periodically," he explained. "Though I've never seen a bite that deep," he pointed to the wound above her chest.

"I guess it was a close call at the time..." Lucy sighed in relief.

"I wonder why Natsu didn't tell you," Sting thought out loud.

"I don't think he knows about this stuff, he's pretty dense," Lucy shrugged.

"I don't think so. I mean, if I really like a girl I get this fetish and strong want to bite her," he explained to Lucy. "So Natsu must have known something about it..."

"Biting fetish, huh?" Lucy's eyebrow twitched.

"Who told you about using dragon slayer venom to poison the beast's venom?" Sting asked curiously.

"It was Laxus I believe... hold on a second..." a realization dawned upon Lucy.

Before Lucy had left the guild, she walked by Gajeel and Laxus, who were oddly enough standing by the counter, behaving like chums. When she walked by them, she heard them snigger and felt stares at her.

"What's so funny?" she had asked.

"We'll tell you when you're older," Laxus smiled. He s _miled._ It creeped Lucy out.

"Tee Hee," Gajeel grunted.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Thanks for all the people following this story. Please be patient with me in terms of Lemons. I want to build up the story for a few more chapters. I don't want to just do a lemon for the sake of it. I'm trying to make it as realistic as possible for fans and myself. I want to make it as true to their character as possible.**

 **Thank you for being understanding and reviews are more than welcomed. Enjoy!**

* * *

Lucy sat in the usual booth, sitting across from Wendy, Erza and Charle. She sat like a lifeless body with her spirit continuously attempting to leave her body from her mouth.

"Poor Lucy," Erza murmured.

"Her date didn't go so well," Charle nodded.

"Did she say anything since she came back?" Wendy asked.

"Nothing," Erza sighed. "She's just been like this the whole time."

Lucy's spirit kept mouthing the words to 'I don't want to live any more'.

"I'll go get her some tea," Wendy suggested, hopping from the bench. Erza leaned over the table and looked at her friend.

"Lucy, the date couldn't have been that bad," she smiled at her friend. "Don't worry about it anymore. We'll help you out on the next date."

"There won't be a next date..." Lucy's lifeless body muttered.

"He dumped you?!" Erza gasped. Lucy's spirit returned back to her body.

"I don't want to talk about it," Lucy looked down at the ground. She began twiddling her thumbs, unable to look at her closest friend.

" _Lucy, I don't think we should see each other anymore," Sting said, awkwardly scratching the back of his head._

" _What?" Lucy looked back at him in shock. "I explained to you I didn't-"_

" _That's not it," Sting shook his hand. "It's just... It's difficult to be around you when you smell like Natsu."_

" _Oh," was the only response Lucy managed to muster up._

" _I know you told me the truth but, the scent is so strong, it feels wrong being around you when you belong... I mean, when you smell like him."_

"Lucy!" Natsu came running over to the booth. Lucy looked up at the pink-haired dragon slayer. He had his usually big goofy grin on him.

"Hey Natsu," Erza greeted him instead.

"I haven't seen you in a while," Natsu said. "Where were you this afternoon?" he asked Lucy.

"Oh, that... I was-"

"She was helping me out on a job," Erza suddenly said.

"Eh? You two on the job? Why didn't you bring me with you?" Natsu looked like he was betrayed.

"Sorry Natsu," Erza apologized, "but it was a one time thing. A small job that required a celestial mage," she explained. Lucy looked at her friend, a thankful smile. Erza wasn't going to tell people who her date was. It wasn't her place.

"Lucy, here's your tea!" Wendy placed a cup down.

"Uh, thank you Wendy," Lucy said, looking down at the steaming cup of tea.

"Lucy, if you're not too tired we can go on another job together," Natsu grinned.

"Not today," Lucy smiled at him apologetically. Natsu felt that something was off about Lucy. He wanted to say more but bit back his tongue.

"Natsu! Did you tell Gajeel that I like to ice-skate like a princess?!" Gray shouted, marching towards him, his fist at the ready.

"Alright," Natsu grinned, fire flowing out of his mouth. "The rumour finally reached you!"

"Get over here you, dragon butt!"

"And here it goes," Charle sighed as the two mages started to fight, kick and punch in a ball of smoke.

"Lucy, please tell me what's wrong?" Wendy asked as Erza stood up.

"Wendy... do I smell different to you?" Lucy suddenly asked, leaning in closer to the sky dragon slayer. Wendy looked down at her hands and nodded quietly.

"I guess Sting told you, huh?" Wendy wondered.

"He said he couldn't date me anymore because my smell of Natsu is putting him off," Lucy explained. "Levy explained to me what Natsu did to save my life but she didn't tell me about this side affect, and what it really means."

In the background, Erza grabbed a hold of Natsu's and Gray's heads and clashed them together.

"You don't need to worry about it Lucy. The only ones who know about it is the dragon slayers," Wendy explained. "We're the only ones who can smell it. Plus, it will wear off eventually."

"Eventually..." Lucy looked down the scar. "Does Natsu know?" Lucy looked up at the blue-haired girl.

"Know what?" Wendy frowned.

"Know about what a dragon slayer bite really means?"

Erza began lecturing the boys, standing in between the two mages.

"As in, the mating thing?" Wendy blushed a little. Lucy nodded in reply. "Well... it's not that simple Lucy. See, it's an instinct that dragon slayer develops over time. I only found out about it once Natsu bit you. I have this strong sense that I should stay away from you. I'm sure Gajeel and Laxus feel it too. That's probably why Sting found it difficult to be around you. It's a strong magical repulsion pushing us away," Wendy explained to her.

"But you're talking to me right now," Lucy pointed out.

"I'm still young and this whole mating thing is weird to me," Wendy chuckled nervously. "I don't think it really affects me."

Lucy turned around to look at Natsu who just got smashed on the head by Erza for talking back to her. His head throbbed in pain as he tried to get away from her hold. Lucy hadn't realized that she was staring at him for a while. Natsu suddenly turned around to look at her.

"Lucy?" he asked, leaving Erza and Gray to their developing argument. Lucy blushed and looked at the table. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," Lucy was quick to respond. "Just... thank you."

"Huh?" Natsu cocked his head to the side.

"Thank you for saving me Natsu," Lucy said it again, still staring down at the table, unable to look at him. Natsu bend down to see her face better. He stared at her flushed cheeks and her watery eyes.

"You're weird Lucy, ya know that?" he mumbled.

* * *

Lucy sat down at her writing desk and took hold of her pen. She was writing a story that she had started called 'The Princess and the Dragon'. She had the plot prepared so all that was left to do was put pen to paper.

 _Like many fairy tales, this one starts with the phrase, once upon a time. Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful princess in a faraway kingdom. She was so fragile, weak and hurt that the king and queen couldn't bare to look at her sad face. So they locked her away in a high tower, with a fearsome fire dragon guarding the entrance._

Lucy sighed. Writing the story was beginning to make her distracted. Lucy looked down at the gruesome like wound above her chest. She imagined what it was like for Natsu, to have to see her dying and then bare his teeth into her like that. She blushed a violent red to the cheeks.

"God," Lucy tried to snap out of it, patting her cheeks. "What's wrong with you Lucy? Get a hold of yourself!" she gave herself a pep talk. She stood up and walked over to her tall mirror in the bedroom. She pushed down the collar of her shirt to look at the bite mark. It did look like a vampire bite. Lucy sighed to herself. This wasn't the first time Natsu had saved her life. He had always caught her just in the nick of time to save her. She never really knowingly faced death because she always knew Natsu had a way. Natsu always found a way to save her. This was a little different this time. He didn't catch her, he didn't have to fight some bad guy. He had to poison her with his venom to save her. Lucy caught herself smiling at the mirror.

"I guess... it's not so bad to smell like Natsu," she told herself out loud and grinned even wider.

* * *

Natsu was sitting at the edge of the bar, picking at his food. It wasn't usually like him. He would have stuffed the food down his throat quicker than lightning.

"Natsu, what's wrong?" Happy asked, interrupting his fishy meal.

"I don't feel hungry," Natsu moaned, playing with the chicken leg.

"EHHH?! Natsu are you sick or something?" Happy worried.

"No don't think so," Natsu sighed.

"It's just the drawback," Gajeel said, who was sitting close by. Levy was sitting beside him, reading a book as per usual.

"Huh? Drawback?" Natsu asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You really are a dense fireball, aren't you? Tch," Gajeel grunted.

"What you call me, metal toothpick?" Natsu jumped up, fired up and ready. Levy looked up, worried that Gajeel was about to get into a fight.

"He's talking about the drawback symptom you're getting," she clarified for Gajeel.

"What are you talking about?" Natsu hopped off the stool and walked over to Levy.

"I've been reading more on eh...," Levy blushed, "Dragon slayers and stuff. You're having drawback symptom from not being close to Lucy," she stated quickly to change the topic of her readying about dragon slayers.

"Close to Lucy? Why would that affect me?" Natsu frowned.

"Tch, you're really an idiot!" Gajeel muttered.

"Call me an idiot one more time!" Natsu was ready at his feet.

"Idi-" Levy suddenly grabbed Gajeel's mouth, stopping him from saying anything further.

"Gajeel, stop doing that," she gave out to him angrily. She sighed looking back at Natsu.

"Natsu, you do know about the bite you gave Lucy? And how it's something dragons do when they mate?"

"Mate?" Natsu cocked his head to the side.

"Yes mate," Levy nodded her head. "When dragons choose each other and they get intimate, they bite and poison each other so that other dragon slayers know they are together," Levy dumbed it down for Natsu.

"Didn't you notice Lucy smelling different?" Gajeel asked, raising his eyebrow.

"She smells fine to me..." Natsu frowned.

"I guess only other dragon slayers can smell it," Levy wondered out loud.

"Smell what?" Natsu asked. Gajeel was getting pissed off at how the Salamander was so oblivious to everything.

"Anyways," Levy cleared her throat. "You're getting drawback symptoms because you're not with your mate at the moment," Levy said.

"Eh?!" Natsu jumped back. "Lucy's my mate?"

"Congratulations! You're a match made in heaven!" Gajeel bellowed jokingly.

"Wait a minute!" Natsu tried to collect his thought, "Lucy and I, we never, we didn't-"

"I know," Levy calmly told him. "It doesn't matter though because you skipped the... thingy... and went straight to the mate part," Levy said. Gajeel smirked, looking down at the petite blue haired girl. She was so innocent she wasn't able to even say the word 'sex'.

"I don't understand this," Natsu frowned, confusion flooding his face. Levy sighed, giving up on him.

"Natsu," Gajeel decided to take over. "For the next few months while your venom is in the cheer leader, you're going to be wanting to be beside her more, protect her and do funky things with her," he stated. "Therefore you have two options. You can be close with her and hang out with her but try and control your urges as much as possible," Gajeel said after lifting one finger to him. He lifted the second one and continued, "or two, you're going to have to go away, far away for a few months until it's over."

Natsu frowned, looking down at the table. He sure didn't think the second option was going to be possible. And anyways, Gajeel said he would have to be careful about urges around Lucy. He never had them before and didn't have them now. He was sure there was nothing going on.

"You're so silly guys," Natsu finally looked up at them. Levy and Gajeel stared at him, wide-eyed.

"There's nothing wrong with me and Lucy. It's just me being normal and Lucy being herself. She's not my mate. She's my partner and my best friend," he told him, trying to convince his friends.

"Tch," Gajeel sighed and crossed his arms. Levy looked at Natsu and smiled.

"Okay Natsu. If that's what you say it is, then it is."


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello guys!**

 **So finally in this chapter begin the lemons. Thank you for waiting patiently until now, there is more soon to come. I'd like to explain again that sorry it's been taking so long but I want this to be as true to the characters as possible. There is no love triangle, like I said, it was just a short date that I needed to get this plot going.**

 **Thank you for reading up until now. Please review your opinions! Enjoy ^^**

* * *

Natsu sat down, letting his feet dangle in the water. It had been a few weeks now since Lucy's near death experience. Gajeel and Laxus still gave Natsu crap about the fact that Lucy was his 'mate' but other than that, things pretty much returned to normal. He was even going on jobs with Lucy and Happy again. In fact, they had just returned from one a minute ago and Lucy was getting changed in her apartment. She had firmly requested Natsu wait outside for her and so he was, sitting by the edge of the canal, dangling his toes in the cold water.

Natsu thought about the tough times Gajeel had mentioned, the urges he was going to have pretty soon. He was keeping an eye out for them but they never surfaced, not yet anyway. But Gajeel was right about other things. Natsu was struggling being away from Lucy. When they were on the jobs, Natsu wasn't able to let Lucy get into any way of harm. He always had a strong worry in his heart when the job request demanded defeating something. He had this strong need to keep Lucy out of danger, stronger than ever before.

"Natsu, you seem kinda down," Happy noted, sitting down beside him.

"I just hope Lucy hurries up, I miss her," he blurted out, accidentally.

"You liiiiiiiike her," Happy smirked.

"Shut up!" Natsu yelled in panic.

"What's going on?" Lucy asked, appearing behind them. She had changed into a simple tank top and skirt, waiting for them to get up.

"Natsu says he-" Natsu grabbed the blue cat and buried his face in his chest.

"Says that we should get to the guild soon!" Natsu laughed awkwardly. Happy was struggling to breathe, frantically waving his arms.

"Oh okay," Lucy looked at the two in confusion. "Come on then, what are you waiting for?" Lucy said, taking the lead already. She didn't want to know what Happy wanted to say. It was usually just an insult or something stupid anyway. Lucy led the way as they walked back to the guild, Natsu strolling beside and Happy flying over head.

Natsu tried walking a little closer to Lucy, at the same time, also trying to ensure she didn't notice him doing so. He tried looking in the other complete direction as he stepped closer. That didn't work out so well. He tripped over a pebble. He didn't fall but stumbled forward, cursing under his breath. He heard a soft giggle and spun around to find Lucy, standing before him, laughing. Natsu couldn't help but smile. She was so happy, so beautiful and so hopeful when she laughed like that. Natsu grinned back and straightened up, pretending to be embarrassed.

"My idiot," she sighed under her breath. She suddenly realized the additional pronoun she added and blushed, looking away from Natsu. Hopefully he hadn't heard what she said.

"Lucy," Natsu spoke in a soft voice. Lucy turned around to face Natsu who was looking at her, suddenly very close to her. Lucy's eyes widened in surprise as Natsu stared at her face. Everything about her face seemed to begin to draw him in. Her big brown eyes, her smooth voice and her perky luscious lips.

 _Her lips,_ Natsu thought.

Lucy gulped as she felt Natsu leaning in.

 _What's going on? Is he going to kiss me? Finally... I mean what?! Why is he trying to kiss me out of a sudden? Should I lean in? What am I supposed to do?_ Lucy's heart raced wildly and the heat flushed to her cheeks.

"There's a zit right there," Natsu poked her cheek with a grunt voice. Lucy's heart skipped a beat. She took a step back, holding her arm awkwardly, looking down at the ground.

"Eh Lucy?" Happy asked, wondering what was wrong with her. A dark aura began forming around Lucy and her eyes turned dark red.

" _Scary_!" Natsu and Happy jumped back in fear.

"A zit you say," Lucy began to cackle as the black aura around her began to deepen. She looked in Natsu and Happy's direction, pointing a finger at them. "Prepare to die!"

"RUN NATSU RUN!" Happy squealed.

* * *

Lucy lay in her bed, fast asleep. After the job they had done, she was completely exhausted, magically and physically. She turned and tossed in her bed as a nightmare began to take hold of her. She was walking through a dark forest, growling and grunting in the bushes all around her. She was ignoring it, closing her eyes shut.

 _This is a dream._

 _Wake up._

 _This is a dream._

The growls stopped and Lucy stopped walking. She looked around as a gentle night wind blew past her and the branches of the trees, making a terrifying lingering sound.

In that moment she turned around to find a Leo Mortum facing her. He was staring at her, his eyes red and dark. He growled, preparing his stance. Lucy couldn't do anything. She was ready for attack and closed her eyes, prepared to die.

"NATSU!" Lucy screamed, throwing her body forward from her sleep. Natsu, who had conveniently slept on the couch that night, was on his feet, his hands grabbing Lucy by the shoulders.

"Lucy, what's wrong?!" his eyes darting around her body to see if she was hurt. Lucy embraced Natsu in a hug, throwing her whole body forward.

"Lucy!" Natsu grunted as he landed on his back on the ground. He had held onto Lucy tightly so that she wouldn't get hurt. He groaned from the pain he felt but quit complaining as soon as he heard Lucy sob.

"Lucy, what's wrong?" he asked, taking hold of her shoulders just to see her face. Her face was covered in tears, streaming down her face.

"Natsu, it was going to kill me," she cried. Natsu sighed in relief, understanding what this was about. He pushed Lucy down into his chest as she sobbed. He held her down with on arm around her shoulders, and the other on her head.

"It's okay, it was just a dream," he whispered, putting his face closer into the strawberry hair. Lucy clutched onto his jacket, crying softly, slowly beginning to calm down. This wasn't the first time she had the nightmare, but it was the first time she reacted like that. Lucy was terrified of death itself now, especially after that job.

Natsu closed his eyes as he felt Lucy calm down and begin to breathe evenly, as if she were finally falling asleep.

"I'm so sorry Lucy," Natsu whispered. "What happened was my fault. I was supposed to protect you, and I couldn't."

Lucy let out a soft snore. Natsu leaned his head back down on the floor and chuckled.

"Oh Lucy," he sighed.

* * *

Natsu was sitting beside Gray and Gajeel, eating their lunch together. Natsu continuously kept looking back at Lucy who was having an intensive conversation with Levy about some book series they are reading together.

"What's wrong boy? Still worried about her? Tch," Gajeel grinned.

"No I'm not," he spat out but it was a half-ass of a defense.

"Yes you are, can't leave your _mate_ alone," Gajeel mocked the fellow dragon slayer.

"Shut up!" Natsu hissed.

"Oh want to argue with me boy?" Gajeel leaned it.

"Hold it Gajeel," Gray lifted his hand to stop the dragon slayer. "I've been trying to pick a fight with Natsu all afternoon and he hasn't budged from his seat. There's no way I'm letting you two fight when he passed up on a chance to duel with me."

"I don't want to fight with you anymore Gray," Natsu hissed annoyingly. "It's so boring."

"Well why don't I spice it up," Gajeel grinned. He leaned over and whispered something to Gray really quickly, enough time to ensure that Natsu didn't catch it.

"What you say?" Natsu glared at Gajeel. Gray smirked, liking the plan he had suggested.

"I'm going to go and take a leak or something," Gray stood up from his seat and walked away. Gajeel had his eyes pinned at Gray the whole time, so Natsu turned around and watched too. It looked like Gray was heading towards the exit but spun around and jumped beside Lucy and Levy. He took off his shirt and leaned closer to Lucy, placing his arm over her shoulder nonchalantly.

"Hey Lucy, wanna come to my place and have sex?"

Gajeel was laughing his ass off as the a dark aura surrounded Natsu. The spoon he was holding in hand just evaporated into thin air. Just as he was about to get up from his seat, a firm grip held him down into place.

"Natsu," it was Erza. "Can you see he's manipulating you? Don't fall for it," Erza tried to encourage good behavior in the pink haired boy. Natsu gritted his teeth but his eyes couldn't waver from Lucy.

"Wait a minute..." Lucy took a step away from him nervously.

"Oh?" Gray leaned down, poking his head to her level. "Perhaps should we kiss first? Right here and now?" he was getting closer to her.

Erza sighed. "He's asking for it. Go get him."

In that very moment, Natsu had disappeared from her sight. Suddenly there was a huge crashing sound as Natsu's fist crushed Gray in the cheekbone. Gray was sent flying straight into the wall.

"Stay away from Lucy you worthless punk!" Natsu screamed, flaming aura surrounding him. Levy chuckled to herself but Lucy remained in complete shock. Natsu was about to use his dragon slayer magic, gathering up fire in his fist.

"Fire Dragon's-"

Suddenly Natsu felt someone touch his arm. He froze, instantly, and his magic dissipated.

"Don't do it Natsu," it was Lucy, holding his arm with her palm, gently pushing it down. She had a sad look in her eyes, a little scared even.

"I guess only Lucy now can stop him when he gets like that," Erza sighed.

"Are you kidding me? Did you see Natsu? He looked like he was going to kill Gray," Gajeel was honestly surprised with the turn out of events. Erza watched Natsu as he started jumping around Lucy, trying to make her happy after scaring her so much. Erza smiled, knowing that Natsu cared for Lucy even more now and wouldn't do anything to hurt her.

* * *

"Truth or dare, truth or dare!" Cana exclaimed happily.

"No way!" Lucy took a hold firm. "After what you made me do with Loke in public - never again."

"Okay how about this then!" Cana pulled out of bottle from her bosom. "Truth or shot!"

"Truth or shot it is!" Mirajane and Erza squealed happily. They both had enough to drink already. They were sitting in a corner booth, happily among themselves. All the younger ones and families had left to go home. The only ones left were the ones who didn't have somebody to go home to yet. Levy had joined them at the booth, feeling like she should try and make her escape soon.

"Alright, I'll got first," Mirajane decided. "Erza, truth... do you have feelings for Jellal?" she grinned.

"Ooooo," Cana, Lucy and Levy looked at Erza waiting for her response.

"Shot."

"God, won't you just admit it already?" Cana complained, pouring the vodka.

"Not a chance in hell," Erza said before chugging down the shot. "Alright my turn. Lucy!" she turned to face the celestial mage, a creepy smile on her face.

"Have you and Natsu slept together?" she asked. Lucy sighed. Erza had known the answer to this question, but she wanted her to share it with the others.

"He sleeps in my bed if that's what you mean but no, we haven't done 'it'," Lucy stuck out her tongue. Cana looked disappointed.

"Levy," Lucy said, eyeing her best friend. "Does your all-time crush start with the letter 'G'?" Lucy asked. Mirajane was holding back giggles whilst Erza had a wide grin on her face.

"Shot," Levy said suddenly.

"Oh come on!" Cana complained. "You're no fun!"

Levy swallowed the shot, making a dirty face whilst she was at it. "Lucy," she darted at her friend. "How much are you in love with Natsu?" she grinned. Lucy blushed.

"I'm not-t in in lo-"

"No lying! Eight years of bad luck!" Cana reminded Lucy. Lucy shivered at the thought of even having more bad luck.

"Shot."

"This is no fun at all!" Cana whimpered, pouring the vodka.

By the end of the night Lucy was pretty hammered. The girls had quizzed her further on topics of Natsu, the bite and after all the vodka was gone, they decided to call it a night. Lucy, Levy and Cana were all walking hand in hand, shouting and screaming in the town, singing a song terribly out of tune. Lucy waved her friends goodbye and walked inside her apartment.

"Ugh, I shouldn't have drank so much," Lucy complained. She cursed under her breath as she hopped on one foot, trying to take her boot off.

"Lucy?" Natsu peeked in through the open window.

"GGGAAAHH!" Lucy gasped, horrified.

"Whaass are you dooooin' ere?" Lucy hiccuped, pointing her finger at Natsu. Natsu looked angry, walking over to the drunk girl. He smelled her up close before placing a disgusted look in his face.

"You're drunk," he muttered.

"You're drunk!" Lucy giggled. "Natsu, take my boot off." Lucy pointed to the other boot. "It won't come off."

"I ain't your servant," Natsu was clearly pissed. Lucy fell to the ground, staring down into the floor.

"Uh, Lucy?" Natsu wondered what was wrong. Suddenly Lucy burst into tears, fountains pouring out of her eyes as she wailed.

"NATSU WON'T HELP ME TAKE OFF MY SHOE! NATSU IS SO MEAN!" she wailed.

"Stop!" Natsu leaped back, startled by Lucy's outburst. Natsu sighed. Lucy was drunk and the only way to get her back to normal was to put her to sleep as soon as possible.

"Fine," he said, kneeling down and taking off the boot for Lucy. Lucy grinned, wiping away a remaining tear. Natsu sighed after throwing the boot away.

"Come on now!" Lucy threw her arms in the air. "Time to change me into my pajamas!" she grinned.

"EEHHHH!?" Natsu jumped back in shock.

"Natsu Natsu, don't be shy," she laughed at him. Natsu relaxed a little as Lucy got up on her feet. "Natsu," she whispered, her voice tone suddenly changing.

"Oh?" Natsu looked at her, waiting for her to move.

"Natsu..." she took a few sluggish steps towards him. She threw her arms around his neck. Natsu's face reddened.

"You're so cute~!" she sang, rubbing her nose against his. Natsu held back a gasp, his cheeks flushing a violent red. "You're the best person in the world, you know that Natsu?" she continued. Natsu could taste her breath - a perfect mixture of her sweet scent and the revolting taste of vodka.

"L-Lucy, you're drunk," Natsu tried to gain control of his body. Suddenly he realized something about himself. With Lucy so up close to him, an inch away from his lips... he wanted her.

 _What? What is going on?_ Natsu's mind couldn't function properly. How could he want her? What did he mean by wanting her? Natsu looked down at Lucy's lips. That's what he wanted. He so badly wanted to crush his lips against her.

 _No. She's drunk. This isn't right._

"Natsu," she whispered, reaching up on her tippey toes. She took hold of his neck with one hand, and his face with the other hand. She pulled him down as her eyes began to close.

 _Push her away! What are you doing idiot!?_

Lucy kissed Natsu, more than just a childish peck. Her moist lips moved over his. Natsu's heart began to race widely, his blood pulsing through his veins at an alarming speed. He shut his eyes tightly.

 _Shit... those... those urges._

Natsu was about to pull away but then Lucy did something unexpected. She nipped at his lower lip. Everything shattered for Natsu.

 _Game over._

Natsu grabbed Lucy by her thighs and lifted her up. She gasped in surprise. Natsu placed Lucy roughly onto her study desk, still holding tightly onto her legs. He crushed his lips against hers, pushing her mouth open, allowing himself to gain access into her mouth.

Lucy fought against this advance. "N-Natsu," she gasped. Natsu took his chance and slid his tongue inside, finding his way to hers. He took hold of her waist, pushing her body close to his. A heating feeling traveled from his head straight down to his core.

He sucked on Lucy's lower lip, making her moan. Natsu left her lips and his rough kisses traveled down from her face to her neck and to her collarbone. He sucked on her delicate white skin and nipped at it roughly.

"Natsu!" Lucy tried pushing him away. "Stop!" she gasped. Just as Natsu was about to bare his sharp fangs into her, Natsu froze.

He looked down at the black wound on her chest. He got a flashback, sending him back to the moment that Lucy was dying in the infirmary, holding her hand.

"Lucy," Natsu pulled away, shock and awe completely covering his face. Natsu looked up at Lucy who was horrified, pulling up the sleeve to her shirt.

 _You just attacked her, you monster!_

Natsu kept taking a few more steps back.

 _You disgusting monster! You deserve to die!_

"Natsu..." Lucy whimpered, tears beginning to form in her eye. Natsu spun around on his heels, running out the door of her apartment. Lucy watched as the door shut behind with a slam, scaring her half to death. She began to sob even though she attempted to hold it back.

"I'm sorry."


	5. Chapter 5

**Enjoy this chapter peeps! ^^**

Natsu punched the wall again, in the exactly same place, over and over again. Happy watched from a distance, not able to muster up the courage and ask him what was wrong. Natsu terrified him at the moment.

 _Idiot! How could you loose control of yourself like that?_

Natsu roared into the empty house and collapsed onto his knees.

 _All she wanted was a simple kiss, and she was drunk._

Tears began forming in Natsu's eyes as his facial expression turned grave.

 _You're a monster, Natsu. A monster!_

Natsu wasn't able to do anything to comfort himself for hours. He broke almost anything his hands could touch. Happy left, unable to look at his friend in pain no longer. Natsu didn't know how long it had been. He just knew that most of the time he spent curled up in a corner or breaking things.

The door opened, creaking loudly in the empty house.

"Whoever it is, get the fuck out," Natsu grunted from the hammock. However, his nose caught whiff of Lucy immediately. He jumped down and faced the blonde celestial mage, standing within the door way.

"Lucy," Natsu stared at her, dumbfounded.

"Natsu... I didn't see you at the guild all day," Lucy said. Her eyes were red from crying last night and her cheeks were flushing red. She didn't want to meet Natsu's gaze, looking down embarrassingly to the ground. "Happy said you were having a tough time," she murmured, looking at all the broken objects lying around.

Natsu's fists curled tightly, his breathing becoming rigid.

"Lucy I-"

"I'm sorry," she whispered, her face still looking at the ground. Lucy was holding her bicep, her body nervous, slightly shaking.

"You're sorry?" Natsu's lips quivered.

"I'm sorry I kissed you like that. I... I was drunk. And... I'm also sorry I cried when you kissed me back. I just got scared..." she finally looked up, tears ready to flow from her eyes.

"I'm so sorry for-"

"SHUT UP!"

Lucy gasped, taking a startling step back. She looked up at Natsu, who had his head bowed, fists clenched and looked like wanted to pummel someone to death. Lucy's heart began to race in fear.

"You're sorry? _You're_ sorry? Idiot!" he hissed in frustration. "I'm the one who's supposed to say sorry! I was a monster... taking advantage of you like that. I don't deserve to live."

"No, Natsu-"

"Don't tell me it's okay!" Natsu yelled, glaring at her. "It's not okay what I did. I never... I never meant it to happen. Therefore, I apologize. It'll never happen again because you will _never_ see me again."

Lucy's heart felt like it dropped. It felt like it dropped a thousand miles down a pit of dirt. The thought, even the notion of never seeing Natsu again brought devastation to her.

"Natsu, how about we call it a truce?" she said, taking a hesitating step forward.

"Truce?" Natsu darted his eye towards.

"Mmm. I did wrong, you did wrong. Let's just forget everything, ok?"

"I don't care. I'm never going to even look upon you again," Natsu said with a deathly voice.

"Don't be like that, Natsu!" Lucy tried putting on sweet voice. She gave him an encouraging smile as she walked closer to him. "It was just a kiss and you're acting like you killed me. You didn't even hurt me," her voice was so gentle and heart-warming.

"Lucy, why don't you get it?" Natsu sighed, his body shaking. "I stopped... I stopped because I _wanted_ to hurt you. I had these urges to... to... to..."

"Don't worry about it," Lucy was now a mere half a meter away. "Levy told me about these things that could happen. It was my fault I pushed you. Let's just forget about it, okay?" Lucy had her eyes closed, a big grin on her face. Natsu looked at her, unable to speak. For the first time since that incident, Natsu's heart finally gave in.

Natsu fell to ground, on his knees. His head was pulled back, staring up at the ceiling.

"I'm an idiot," he gritted through his teeth. Lucy knelt down beside him, still smiling.

"That's right," she nodded in agreement. "You're my idiot."

"Lucy... I, I..." Natsu couldn't find the sentence or even the words to say anything to her. His body finally let go of the tension he had built up in his body. Lucy, like always, was able to find a way to his heart.

"Forget about what you want to tell me," Lucy suddenly said. "Let's just go to guild, and stuff our faces with food? And then, let's pick a fight with Gray? How does that sound?"

Natsu looked at her in awe.

 _You don't deserve her._

Lucy leaned over and wiped a tear from his cheek, cupping his chin.

"Now turn that frown upside down," she teased him playfully. Natsu bit back a remark and instead, followed her instructions. "Atta boy!"

 _Oh Lucy. If only you knew how difficult this is for me. You're my everything. My partner. My best friend. Was it this horrible bite that was making me lust for you out of a sudden? Was the only reason I wanted to kiss you so badly because my scent was all over you?_

Natsu looked at her face, her smile, her eyes. He studied the outline of her jaw and the redness of her cheek. He smelled the scent of her strawberry shampoo and sweet body odour.

 _No,_ he thought, _this isn't lust. It's love._

 _I love Lucy Heartfillia._

* * *

At the guild, everyone pestered Natsu about why he wasn't there all day. Eventually, Lucy came in to save the day and said he was sick. She said she had brought soup and medicine and nursed him back to health. She got a few teases about her liking him, but other than that, Natsu was saved.

Natsu went through the motions of fighting with Gray, growling at Gajeel and paying attention to conversations. Most of the time however, his mind was elsewhere. He was thinking about how his body reacted when he thought of Lucy. He got this warm stabbing - like feeling in chest where his heart should be. He would get flustered when someone caught him staring at the young girl. When someone mentioned Lucy in conversation, his ears perked up and his heart raced.

There was no denying it, he loved Lucy.

"Laxus," Natsu walked over to the dragon slayer, sitting at the bar.

"Ugh, what do you want, punk?" he asked in his usual manner.

"Question for ya. Do you remember when you said that story of how you saved a person from Leo Mortum by-"

"Yeah what about it?" Laxus grunted, eager to get this conversation over and done with.

"Well, did you form an attachment towards your mate?" Natsu asked. Laxus looked down at his pint of beer and cleared his throat.

"No I did not."

"Eh?"

"Listen punk," Laxus leaned over the bar, "the venom we release is used for two things; to kill our prey and to claim our mates. The whole thing what we did was not the original purpose of our venom."

Natsu nodded his head, understanding everything so far.

"When I saved the victim, he wasn't near death. I released a proper amount of venom and the poisons neutralized perfectly. This is because as I was biting the victim to save him, I had the only sole purpose of ensuring they survived and lived."

"And they did?" Natsu asked. Laxus nodded his head.

"When you bit into Lucy, she was almost dead. You needed to release a lot more venom. Also, you had a connection with Lucy," he said. Natsu looked across the guild, watching the blonde haired mage argue about something with Happy.

"Connection," Natsu murmured.

"You love the cheer leader," Laxus stated.

"EHHHH!? What? No way!" Natsu blushed and looked away. Laxus chuckled.

"You don't have to admit it, but that's the only reason why Lucy ended up becoming your mate. Why you're getting all these fuzzy feelings," he poked his belly.

"H-How did you know?" Natsu asked, looking up at him. Laxus sighed, taking a gulp from his beer.

"I used to have a mate of my own," he stated nonchalantly.

"EHHHH?!" Natsu leaned back in his seat, completely in shock. "Please don't tell me it was with someone from our guild?" Natsu asked.

"Idiot, of course not. I was once in love with a girl. She left me, and that's that."

"Laxus in love," Natsu sniggered.

"Shut up! Tell anyone, I'll deny it and kill you," Laxus hissed under his breath. He looked at the pink haired boy and thought for a while before saying something.

"Just be careful Natsu. These feelings you're having are animalistic. The way we... we do things is not the human way..." Laxus looked down on the ground. "Make sure she doesn't become scared of you," he finished his statement. Natsu wanted to press the issue further but he didn't. Something about Laxus's voice and posture told him not to pester him any further.

"Thanks Laxus," Natsu said.

"No worries punk."

"Laxus... Fight me!"

* * *

 **This chapter might seem a little dark and broody but don't worry. Soon it'll pick up to the final scene of Lucy and Natsu being together. Please leave your opinions in the review section, means a lot to me.**


	6. Chapter 6

**So here's another update. Still building up to it but the story is finishing up soon don't worry. You'll get your sexy time, just be patient 'kay?**

* * *

Lucy sat at the edge of the desk, trying to think of how to continue her current story. No matter how hard she tried, inspiration wouldn't strike her. She was so distracted thinking about Natsu that she couldn't grasp her focus back. Lucy felt sick to her stomach ever since that drunk night. She was such an idiot, kissing her best friend like that. What was worse, was the way she reacted when Natsu kissed her back so passionately.

At the thought of it, Lucy's heart began to beat faster and her cheeks became so flustered. The thought of Natsu kissing her again brought crazy things to mind.

"Stop it Lucy!" she gave out to herself.

"What's wrong? Trouble in paradise?" a much too familiar voice whispered in her ear.

"Loke!" Lucy squealed, jumping into the air. "What the- How the- Why?" she stammered in shock.

"Why what?" he asked nonchalantly, leaning his arm against the wall.

"Why are you here?" Lucy gritted through her teeth.

"You're mind is in complete turmoil. I thought you were being tortured or something," he said. "So, tell me, what's up?" he asked, sitting down on the bed.

"Like I'd tell you?!" Lucy yelled at him.

"Wow, we're a fireball today aren't we? Or wait, does this have something to do with a fireball?" Loke playfully grinned. Lucy wanted to say more to piss of the celestial spirit but bit back her tongue. "Hoo... I was right."

"Loke, what do you know of love?" Lucy asked suddenly.

"I'm finally happy we're having the grown up talk," Loke grinned. Lucy hissed at him, demanding him to behave. "What is it exactly you're asking me, Lucy?" he raised his eyebrow.

"You're around ladies a lot and you flirt and stuff... have you fallen in love with someone before?" Lucy asked nervously. Loke looked at her with a blank face for a long time before finally speaking.

"I've been in love before yes," he stated with caution in his voice. Lucy wanted to pester him but knew he needed to gather up some courage. "A long time ago, I fell in love with one of my masters."

"This isn't about me is it?" Lucy eyed him suspiciously.

"Don't be silly," he joked.

"Asshole!" Lucy grunted.

"Anyway, why do you want to know so badly? Suddenly having lovey dovey feelings for someone by the nickname of Salamander?" he asked, using a playful tone. Lucy couldn't muster up a reply. Loke watched her for a moment before sighing. "You're wondering if you love Natsu, right?"

"T-that's not it..." Lucy tried to distract herself.

"You feel lust for him after this kiss?"

"HOW DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THE KISS?!" Lucy screamed in shock.

"When your heart rate increases and your skin gets all boiled, I'm used to popping in to save the day. That time was different when I caught you smooching the dragon slayer," Loke smirked.

"I really wish I didn't know all that," Lucy sighed to herself.

"So how was the kiss?" Loke suddenly leaned in, interested in the conversation topic.

"I was drunk so it doesn't count," Lucy pointed out.

"Oh I'm sorry to burst your virgin bubble Lucy but it counts. Even when drunk, that stuff counts," Loke laughed. Lucy was quickly getting very annoyed with this celestial spirit.

"Whatever," Lucy grimaced.

"From what I could tell you were really into it until he put you up on that desk," Loke glanced at the desk she was sitting beside. Lucy blushed a violent red in the cheeks.

"You saw..."

"Sorry, that's the time I popped in," he explained. "What happened then?" Loke asked curiously. Lucy didn't want to be sharing things like this with a ladies man. However, Loke was her celestial spirit and they shared a strong bond together.

"It was fine until... a thought hit me."

"Go on."

"I thought that Natsu was going to hurt me."

"Why do you say that?"

"I saw it in his eyes, Loke," Lucy's eyes began to fill up with tears once more. "He had this dark aura about him like he was going to kill me," she bit her lip, holding back the tears.

"Did he hurt you?" Loke's voice was alarmed and angry out of a sudden.

"No no of course not. He didn't do anything like that... it's just the... the feeling I got from him. I became so scared of him in that moment," Lucy explained, managing to control the tears. Loke sighed, leaning back a little.

"This is a little out of my league Lucy," he started speaking. "I don't have much advice to give you when talking about falling in love with someone as unique as Natsu. He's a dragon slayer which is probably what got you so scared in the first place," he pointed out. Lucy listened intently to her friend. "He's powerful and terrifying to enemies. I doubt that he'd ever hurt you Lucy, no matter how much his beastly instincts take over," he explained his opinion. Lucy looked down at the ground, thinking about his words.

 _Of course Loke is right. Natsu would never hurt me. He loves me... like a friend, and wouldn't do anything that would cause me harm._

"So are you going to confess to him?" Loke asked with a sneer.

"Confess? No," Lucy was stern with her voice. "He only kissed me back because of the bite. It's drawing him closer to me so that's what's got him all confused and weird," Lucy stated confidently. Loke sighed at her.

"You're so silly Lucy," he said to her, looking at his master through his spectacles.

"What do you mean?"

"Natsu loved you even before the bite," Loke stated simply. "Just because you didn't notice doesn't mean it's not true."

"Whatever," Lucy blushed again and looked away from the Lion's gaze. Loke sighed and with a whisper of a 'see you later' he disappeared into thin air. Lucy thought about his words for a while but decided to stick to her solid opinion. Natsu only felt lust for her at the moment, not love.

* * *

Natsu dragged himself back home in fowl mood. Gray pissed him off to no end today and Gajeel ticked him off more than usual. All in all, he had a tough day without Lucy being at the guild. She said she wanted to stay home and work on her book so Natsu was ensuring to stay away from her apartment.

 _I'll just sneek in when she's sleeping anyway,_ he thought to himself.

Natsu opened the door to his home and took the first step inside. He froze. The house was cleaned for the first time since his outburst. All the broken plates and cermaic items were thrown away, the floor was sweapt and new dishes were placed randomly. The walls were plastered down to at least keep the wind at bay.

Shocked, Natsu walked upstairs to his bedroom to spot a blonde haired girl lying down on his bed. She was lying on her stomach, her body stretched out flat as if she had collapsed and instantly fallen asleep.

 _Idiot. Why did she have to do all of this for me again?_

Natsu tried to control his anger, grinding his teeth.

 _You're a monster and you don't deserve her..._

Lucy whimpered.

At the sound of her, Natsu's head snapped back up and he was alert. He watched as the celestial mage turned in her sleep, mumbling something. Natsu walked over to the bed side to get a closer look.

"Natsu..." she mumbled in her sleep. The sound of his name brought a smile to his face. It wasn't his wide signature grin, but a small smile of hope.

 _If you don't deserve her, become a man that she deserves, idiot._

Natsu lay down beside her, gently so that he wouldn't wake her up. She must have been exhausted because she didn't even shift in her sleep. Natsu lay down, facing her. He watched as her sleeping facial expressions changed throughout her dream.

She was happy at times, angry and happy again. At one point Lucy muttered 'Lucy kick' and he couldn't help but chuckle.

"Lucy Heartfillia. I love you," he whispered. Lucy's eyes twitched a little before slowly opening. She didn't seem alarmed or shocked that Natsu was there. She just closed her eyes again and shifted closer to him. She put her arm around his waist and her nose buried into his neck.

"I love you too," she groggly stated, before falling back again into her dream.

Natsu's world changed in an instance. Natsu had feelings for Lucy, that was one thing. However, there was a thought that never even crossed his mind. What if Lucy loved him back? His heart was beating so fast he was sure Lucy would wake up to the sound of it. His knuckles were so pale from clenching his fists so tight. Natsu felt like he couldn't breathe. It was like a huge weight was lifted from his stomach and thrown back down with force.

 _What if Lucy truly loves me back?_

Lucy and Natsu were on a job again, this time with the whole team; Gray and Erza walking in front of them. Lucy's head was exploding with emotions and thoughts.

 _Do I love him? What should I do if I do? What if he loves me back? No, the scariest part is if he doesn't love me back. Wait, no the other way round. Or no. I don't know!_

Natsu's mind was on fireworks and his stomach was doing summersaults on a trampoline.

 _She said she loves me in her sleep. Does it mean anything? She was pretty out of it. And she only kissed me when she was drunk. So she never meant it, right?_

* * *

Erza was becoming increasingly worried as the two at the back weren't talking. Even Happy abandoned Natsu to have a more interesting conversation with Gray. She knew something had happened between them. She remembered back to how much Gray, Gajeel and Laxus teased Natsu by flirting with Lucy or coming up with evil schemes. Perhaps he'd had enough? Or maybe Lucy's current book was becoming a struggle? She always became grouchy around the time Lucy had to finish her novel.

"Should we stay in this town tonight?" Erza asked, pointing towards a small town.

"Do we need to?" Lucy asked.

"It's almost nightfall. If we stay the night we can get the job done in the morning and be back by tomorrow," Erza pointed out.

"That sounds good to me," Gray stated.

The mages couldn't find a hotel to take them so they stayed in a tavern, taking two rooms. Erza couldn't trust Gray and Natsu together. Erza asked Natsu, Lucy and Happy to bunk together.

That night was very cold, even for a cloudless sky. Lucy had locked herself in the bathroom, soaking her body in the hot bubble bath. Natsu had already laid to bed and began steadily snoring away. Lucy tried to stay as long as possible in the bath in attempt to avoid Natsu. Finally, when she was convinced, she slipped out, dried herself and changed. She tip-toed out of the bathroom. Sure enough Natsu was sleeping in the single bed, leaving the larger bed to her. The bed however was right beside the window. Lucy locked it firmly, shivering from the cold and jumped into bed, squealing a little from how cold it was.

Natsu shuffled in his sleep but Lucy was convinced she didn't awaken him.

"Thank god," she sighed to herself. Lucy curled herself in ball under the covers, trying to keep in some body warmth.

"This is where Natsu is really useful," Lucy pointed out to herself. As she held her knees tightly to herself, chattering her teeth, shee tried to fall. It was difficult to remain still when it was so chillingly cold. She tossed and turned, facing Natsu who was sleeping on the single bed. Happy was snoring at the foot of the bed with him.

"He always crawls into my bed, I guess it'll be okay if I do it right?" Lucy thought out loud. Lucy made up her mind up and lept out of bed to snuggle up to the pink-haired dragon slayer. At first, she struggled with herself for a while. Maybe she shouldn't do it, after all the things that had been happening between them. Wouldn't want to send the wrong message to him after all, right?

Lucy sighed.

 _What am I doing?_

Lucy turned around, about to go back into her own bed when suddenly she felt a strong grip around her wrist. Startled, Lucy turned around to find Natsu holding onto her arm.

He didn't say anything. Just sat there, holding her hand with a pleading look in his eyes. Lucy's heart raced like a stallion set free into the wild. The heat from his hand galloped through her bloodstream and into her heart.

"N-Natsu," Lucy whispered in alarm. Natsu tugged at her arm, motioning her to lie down with him. She was, however, still in shock so he had to literally drag her down. Natsu grabbed her around the waist and spun her under the covers, her back pressed tightly against his back.

 _God he is hot!_

Sure enough Natsu's temperature was a lot higher than hers. Lucy tucked her toes, trying to wrap around him and he willingly crossed his leg over hers, warming her up. Lucy's cold fingers began to warm so quickly, she didn't think it was possible. She felt Natsu's deep breath in her neck, heaving in and out until it eventually evened out, probably falling asleep. Lucy didn't move from her spot, not wanting to wake him up anymore so she too, soon enough, fell asleep.

"Well can you hear anything?" Gray asked Erza. Erza was leaning her ear against the door.

"Will you shut up Gray?" Erza hissed, "I missed the whole thing!"


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry for not updating over the weekend, I was away and had many plans. Hopefully I'll get a huge chunk of this story done this week.**

* * *

The sun began to rise over the horizon. Natsu held on tightly to Lucy's waist, pulling her back against his chest. His nose was nestled in her soft hair that smelled like a mixture of strawberries and soap. Natsu began nuzzling the hair almost in his sleep when Lucy began twitching her eyes open. She realized where she was, with whom she was and the memories of last night all came back. Lucy felt a little embarrassed about it, burying half her face in the pillow. Her cheeks blushed red when she noticed Natsu's arm tightly wrapped around her waist. He was so warm and gentle, it brought only positive emotions to heart and mind.

 _Natsu Dragneel, I love you._

Lucy smiled to herself after saying the phrase in her head. It sounded so right to her, it was like she was meant to say it a long time ago. Natsu began mumbling something in his sleep, his lips ruffling through Lucy's blonde hair.

"L-Lucy..." he muttered. Perhaps he woke up from a dream, or the dream woke him up; whatever the case, he was opening his eyes.

They stayed silent for a while in bed, unsure of what to do. Natsu didn't want to wake up Lucy and Lucy was pretending to be still asleep as to not face the confrontation. The awkward moment they'd climb out of bed and face each other. Perhaps they wouldn't? It was pretty normal for Natsu to be in her bed, right? Lucy looked down at the hand around her belly. Nope. This wasn't normal at all. This was something new and worrying.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

"Happy, Lucy, Natsu!" a muffled voice spoke from behind. Lucy guessed it was Erza. "We have to go now, so get up," she said. Natsu rolled over and jumped off the bed. Lucy sat upright, looking at Happy at the end of the bed who was still sleeping and drooling.

"Right, well I need to go," Natsu suddenly stated and walked out the door. Lucy stared at him in shock.

 _That's it?_

A little angry and flustered, Lucy got out of bed. She picked up Natsu's scarf up from the ground.

"Forgot his own scarf," she sighed, walking around the bed. The door opened and Natsu peered his head in, an awkward smile on his face.

"I forgot my-"

"Your scarf," Lucy finished the sentence for him, handing the scarf out. Natsu walked over and when attempting to grasp the scarf, his fingers scraped over her hand. An electric vibe traveled through Lucy like lightning, heating up her core momentarily. Natsu grimaced at her warm touch, an urge beginning to build up once more to hug and kiss her like usual.

"Natsu..." Lucy whispered, taking a step closer to the dragon slayer. "Natsu, I... I..."

"I love you Lucy," Natsu was the one who said it. Lucy's lungs collapsed and her heart did a somersault. Those words, those beautiful words coming from him were so powerful. Lucy leaned in, wanting to kiss the pink haired boy. She wanted to close her eyes and immerse her feelings and passion in a powerful crushing kiss. Natsu took hold of her shoulders, stopping her from moving any further.

"No," he stated sharply. This word had an effect on Lucy also. She felt her heart stop a beat, her stomach drop down in a dark pit and her brain sent a painful shock through her body. Lucy looked up at his face, which was pained and scrunched up. What in the world was going on?

"No?" Lucy finally spoke, her voice cracking.

"Lucy, I love you," he said again, a chilling sensation vibrating through Lucy's body.

"Natsu, I-" Lucy wanted to share her new found feelings but he cut her short.

"No Lucy. Don't say it," he said with a firm voice, gripping onto her shoulders.

"Why not?" Lucy was becoming completely confused, her eyes beginning to water. Why was Natsu so angry and frustrated with her?

"You can't have feelings towards me Lucy, not like that. It's not right," Natsu said, closing his eyes tightly, his voice ragged. Lucy never got to see Natsu like this. He was filled with remorse and pain, an expression she never witnessed before.

"Natsu..." Lucy whispered.

"Last night was a mistake. Let's just stop," he stated simply.

"Stop what?" Lucy tried to do a light-hearted chuckle but then a tear slipped down her cheek.

"This. Whatever _this_ is that is happening to us. It's not right," he shook his head firmly.

"What? What do you mean Natsu?" Lucy's voice was becoming desperate.

"I will hurt you Lucy!" Natsu's voice rose to a loud shout. Lucy wanted to take a step back but froze in shock. Natsu's eyes were red with rage and his hands were digging into her shoulders. His teeth were grinding against each other, struggling to control himself.

"H-hurt me?" Lucy asked in a whimper. She wanted to burst into tears and cry.

"Yes Lucy! Like you didn't learn your lesson from that kiss!" Natsu was filled with rage.

"You wouldn't hurt-"

"Yes I would. I want to Lucy, that's the problem," he gritted through his teeth. "So learn your lesson and stay the fuck away from me!" he again began to raise his voice at her.

"Then why did you say you love me?!" Lucy now began to over flow with emotions. She was tired and upset, making her eyes burst into tears. She also began to shout back, desperate and heart broken.

"I just needed to say it..." he whispered in surprise.

"Well you can't just say it!" Lucy yelled. "You can't say it to me when you don't want anything to do with me, Natsu! You can't string me along and then throw me back out like rubbish," she blurted out. Lucy grabbed his wrists and flung them down away from her.

"Luce-"

"Don't 'Luce' me, you idiot!" she shouted one last time before pushing past his shoulder and rushing out the door, crying. Natsu stared at the vast room with emptiness in his heart. What the hell just happened? He never expected this to occur. All he wanted to do was tell her that he loved her. But then, his mind went blank and thought back to how badly he wanted to bite her again, to hurt her. He was evil, and she didn't deserve this evil around her.

"So..." Happy sang, "You kissed, huh?"

* * *

The job needed to be done pretty quickly. It was about banishing a ghost from the house of a wealthy person. Lucy was pretty terrified and refused to go in for a while until Gray forcefully threw her in the path of the ghost. Natsu was having the time of his life, or so it seemed at least, as Happy and himself flew around the house chasing after the ghost. Erza was simply discussing the possibility of the house been burned down due to uncanny circumstances. The owner looked terrified but he didn't seem to mind so much. He would rather have this house burned down then seeing the ghost again.

Eventually, after several hours of useless chasing, Natsu had caught the ghost; a neighbourhood kid trying to scare the owner away.

"This sucks," Gray grunted as they walked out of the building.

"Yeah, I really needed the rent money today," Lucy sighed.

"You must understand. Our job was to banish the ghost but there was no ghost. Hence, we can't take the reward," Erza stated matter-of-factly.

"I know I know," Lucy sighed.

Natsu was walking a little behind the group, watching as they discussed their tactics and funny incidents that happened during the ghost hunt. Lucy was well able to act. She pretended to be happy. She pretended that there wasn't a huge turmoil in her heart. Natsu thought about the pain Lucy had to bare her whole childhood, and when she came to Fairy Tail. She was always smiling, cheering and supporting. A personality worthy of a goddess.

"What do you think, Natsu?" Erza asked, looking back at the pink haired boy.

"Huh?" Natsu asked.

"What's wrong hothead, nothing in that brain of yours?" Gray hissed playfully. Natsu glared at him but ignored him otherwise. Gray knew something was very wrong with Natsu when he didn't even try and pick a fight with him.

"I asked if you were okay with staying in the same tavern again?" Erza asked.

"Yeah sure," Natsu shrugged, as if he didn't care and continued to walk on, passing them all out.

"I guess the buzz from not being able to kill a ghost really got to him," Gray thought out loud.

"I don't think that's it," Happy sighed, floating in the air alongside them.

"Do you know something?" Erza whispered into the blue cat's ear.

"I'll tell you the juicy details later with Mirajane and Cana," Happy sniggered back. Lucy watched as the Salamander walked ahead. She was angry and hurt by him, she didn't want to face him anymore.

 _How could he say he loves me and then tell me to stay away from him? Idiot._

That night, Gray and Lucy stayed in the same bedroom together. It was Erza's method of keeping Lucy and Natsu apart since they seemed to be fighting. Also, Gray and Natsu couldn't be allowed to be placed in the same bedroom.

"I'm going to bed Lucy, okay?" Gray said, closing the door to their bedroom.

"Yeah that's fine," Lucy replied. "I'm going to bed too.

"Mmm," he responded, crawling into his bed beside the window. Lucy was just tucking her feet in under the blanket when she heard Gray clear his throat.

"Lucy, did something happen between you and Natsu?" Gray asked.

"Why do you care?" she huffed, laying her head down on the pillow.

"It's just; ever since the night you almost died... things haven't been the same," he explained with an odd tone in his voice. Lucy looked up at the ice mage who was not sitting on the bed now, but on the windowsill, looking outside. "It feels like you're drifting apart despite the fact that because of the bite, Natsu should be closer to you than ever," he stated. Lucy was unable to muster up a reply.

"There's a few guesses I have that could have happened between ye, and most of them involve Natsu being an idiot and screwing up," he chuckled, looking at Lucy. "However, if that is the case, just know that Natsu isn't a normal human being. He was raised by dragon and relies on his instinct. So if it comes across as him being mean or hurtful, he doesn't mean it. He doesn't understand what human emotions are like and he can't understand why humans don't rely on their animal instincts."

Lucy sighed and closed her eyes. Gray was right. Natsu was dense but he doesn't mean to be. It's just the way he is.

"Thanks Gray," Lucy whispered.

"Mmm," he murmured. Lucy rolled on her side, thinking about Natsu again, and about their intense conversation this morning.

 _He's my idiot. My idiot whom I love._

Lucy made up her mind and decided to confront Natsu the following day. She was going to tell him to shove it, and that she had the right to tell him she loved him. Little did the celestial mage know that Natsu was sitting on the rooftops, listening to Gray's advice.

"Natsu, what are we doing here again?" Happy asked, sitting down beside him, fish in hand.

"I just don't feel comfortable leaving Lucy..."

"She's with Gray," Happy pointed out and Natsu grimaced. "Ah... it's because she's with another man," Happy tried to hold back a snigger.

"Shut up," Natsu hissed. Gray must have known he would be listening in.

 _I don't understand human emotions well... idiot Gray. What does he know about emotions? Continuously rejecting Juvia when she clearly loves him?_

Natsu sighed and looked up to the sky where the stars were twinkling. Every time he thought of the stars, he though of Lucy and her magical power. Her beautiful power that summons the stars to her side.

 _Gray was right. I'm an idiot. I'll explain to Lucy everything properly, tomorrow._

* * *

 **So that's the chapter for today. Thank you for reading so far. So there have been a few moments I've been building up to the finale, and just so you know these scenes are important and they do link in together.**

 **Also, I've been wanting to write a new story lately so I think I'll share the idea here and see if any of you might be interested in reading it. It's just, I would love to be a real mage and join Fairy Tail, wouldn't that be everyone's dream? So I was thinking of writing a story that followed a 'you' character as you join Fairy Tail and cause havoc.**

 **The story will be divided into three parts, meaning there will be three different stories. They are like alternate universes to three different characters joining Fairy Tail. All three will have different personalities and magic abilites. The aim is to try and get as many readers relatable to the characters. Lets say you're personality is shy and quiet, then you read the story about character 'A'. Then there is charatcer 'B' who might be bold and arrogant and so on. Just a thought. Please leave your opinions in the comment section/review section.**

 **Many thanks. Till next time ;)**


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